Gravel garden in the Val d’Orcia, Tuscany
Since 2013 I have collaborated with the renowned garden designer Luciano Giubbilei. Luciano and I first worked on an experimental test border within the vegetable garden at Great Dixter, when I was a gardener there. Together we formulated a palette of perennial plants to use in upcoming projects, including Luciano’s 2014 Chelsea Flower Show garden, which won ‘Best in Show’.
For this Tuscan garden we worked together to create a Mediterranean garden which is aromatic, gentle and organically associates three separate buildings.
The planting is rich in texture and form. Evergreen pittosporum and prostrate rosemary create undulating shapes which remain throughout the winter season, holding a structural presence. Floral highlights include historic Italian bearded iris, perennial salvias, plumbago trained against walls and a selection of Chinese tree peonies.
JH ~August 2019
Photography by Andrew Montgomery